Creative Portfolio

TORANI CARAMEL SYRUPWould a caramel-flavored coffee with a less stylish ad campaign taste as sweet? Words and images can prime our senses to find a scent or a flavor more delectable, and Torani makes the most of that fact. While the themes of its visuals have varied widely in recent years, they've all given distinctive flair to what could seem a commodity product. Having established its hipness credentials with the visual, the brand is free to make a hard sell in the copy (aimed at proprietors of cafés): "Satisfy your customers' cravings with the sweet, creamy flavor of new Torani Caramel sauce. It's the inspiration for dozens of hot-selling drinks, like our buttery-smooth Caramella." Assured that "cravings" are extant, people in the coffee biz will cheerfully make the capital investment in a few bottles of Torani syrup. Meanwhile, some coffee addicts may feel as though the product offers two vices for the price of one: Seen in this typeface, the word "Caramel" almost reads as the name of Camel cigarettes, while the illustration of Mr. Caramel looks at first glance like curling smoke.NATIONAL ACE HARDWAREIt's a commonplace that advertising creates desire for things we'd otherwise never covet. There's a less-noted corollary: Advertising also creates aversion to things we might otherwise never think to disdain. With its attacks on "those huge home improvement centers," National Ace's new campaign is a good example of this latter genre. The uninstructed reader might think it's better to go to a store that has a dozen varieties of the thing he's seeking. But National Ace sets him straight, tapping into the discomfort people have with anything that seems out of scale. (Another ad mocks the sort of announcement you might hear over the loudspeaker at a big-box store: " 'Customer needs assistance in aisle 3,809.' ") Consumers may not believe that small is beautiful, but they're ready to agree that huge is ugly. And so what if a smaller store offers fewer options? The appeal of variety has faded of late as people face more choices (for phone companies, energy suppliers, healthcare providers, etc.) than they care to make.DALE LABORATORIESPHOTO DEVELOPINGIf you're not a worrier by nature, ads will do their best to turn you into one. This one warns of the peril that stalks your film when you place it in the hands of a photo lab. "Most photo labs try to print all films as if they were the same. But if the lab isn't set up precisely to print the film you've shot, your beautiful scenery could turn out a lot differently than you remembered." By contrast (but not too much!), Dale is equipped to dealindividually with the "more than 120 different film types" on the world market. Numbers always give a ring of authority to a claim, and readers will be duly impressed with this one as a sign that Dale knows its business. Amateurs in the audience will also appreciate the implication that their photos would look "beautiful" if properly printed—and that the lousy shots they've taken in the past would have looked swell were it not for the incompetence of lesser photo labs. SEATTLE SONICS TICKET SALESIn most businesses, it's considered bad form to run ads that depict one's loyal customers as lunatics. Sports teams are an exception. Here, we see a respectable man in a green suit walking home. (OK, so he looks about as respectable as a man can while wearing a green suit.) He sees a city truck coming along, painting fresh yellow lines down the middle of the street. Next thing we know, he's lying down in the street and a yellow line is being painted down the middle of him. He then gets up and goes about his business. An onscreen super explains (sort of): "Green & Gold Is Back." A further super then displays the Sonics' logo and a phone number to call for ticket packages. In another spot in the series, a woman's kids and husband are taken aback at a family picnic when she grabs a squeeze bottle of mustard and applies it to a green Jello mold—yet another manifestation of green-and-gold mania. Why are commercials like these appealing for the target audience? We all know it's irrational to get worked up about whether a bunch of people in silly outfits score more points than another bunch of people in silly outfits. Yet, in a world that generally compels us to behave rationally, we cherish our sports fandom as a harmless outlet for our irrationality. In its eccentric way, this spot assures each of us that we're not the only ones who feel this way.

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Mark Dolliver

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Mark Dolliver